Personal computing systems often require maintenance and protection from damage and can be lost, stolen or otherwise rendered inaccessible leading to lost productivity. One probable solution to the problem posed by a personal computing system is a networked computing system or environment. Such a system can maintain a virtual machine accessible from a network. However, a virtual computing system offers another set of challenges.
In regard to application use, a networked computing system can offer many applications that a user device does not have. However, when using the user device the user may not be aware of the various applications. Such a user may not use the applications even where the user has files that she cannot open.
In regard to file storage, such a networked computing environment can store files, but a user accessing the networked computing system may require file transfer between the networked computing system and the user device. For example, users may have some files on one computing system but need them on another computing system. Such transfers can be cumbersome, requiring the use of network file transfer programs and moderate technical knowledge regarding the directory layout of the networked computing system. These hurdles may impede the use of the network computing system.
In addition, sharing files or data from a personal computer to other users requires storing the data on magnetic discs or mobile storage devices (such as miniature USB hard drives) or emailing the attachments to the users. In many cases, carrying a separate storage drive or emailing data may be slow or cumbersome. Additionally, one may lose track of different versions of a document that has traveled from various users or computing devices. At times, application versions may vary between devices, causing the user to not be able to edit or work with a document at computers that do not support the document. Also, portable storage devices may become corrupted or unusable, creating further problems for a user.
For example, the user may create a document on his/her personal computer using a particular application (e.g., Corel WordPerfect). However, the user's work computer only contains a different application (e.g., Microsoft Word), and thus the user may not be able to work with the created document at both computers. Additionally, one computer may have a more current version of an application than another computer, and applications may become out of date or need heavy maintenance (updates, patches, and so on). Likewise, maintenance of the physical hardware of a computer is a laborious task which includes ensuring hardware is up-to-date to run new software and ensuring virus/malware scanners are kept up-to-date. Most users are not technically skilled to handle such maintenance.
Computer users today work from multiple computers, including home computers, work computers, laptop computers, internet cafes, airport kiosks, and so on. At times, travelers desire to avoid the need of carrying a laptop computer due to increased airport security measures and the possibility of theft or data loss or corruption. Internet café users and students working on shared computers in residence halls or libraries often are confronted with the problem of blocked access to removable storage devices. This prevents them from saving data from the shared computer onto their storage devices causing them to transfer their created data using undesirable methods, such as emailing attachments of their documents to themselves.
These and other problems exist with respect to meeting the needs of computer users.